Label printers are dedicated to label printing. In the label printing, one end in the longitudinal direction of a continuous label wound into a roll is pinched between a thermal head and a platen roller, and the continuous label is reeled off and fed in a sheet shape by rotating the platen roller. During this feeding, the thermal head prints desired information on each of a plurality of labels temporarily adhering to a long liner included in the continuous label.
There are two types of ejection schemes for such label printers, including normal ejection and separation ejection. The normal ejection is to eject labels while leaving the labels temporarily adhering to a liner, and the separation ejection is to separate labels from a liner and then eject the same.
In the case of the normal ejection, printing is performed continuously on a required number of labels while leaving the labels temporarily adhering to a liner, and then the labels can be separated from the liner at the site for attachment. This scheme is suitable for the case where a target for attachment of the labels is located in a place away from the printer.
Meanwhile in the case of the separation ejection, since the printer ejects labels separated from a liner one by one, this scheme is suitable for the case where a target for attachment of the labels is located near the operator. For the separation ejection, a separation unit attached to the printer is set at the separation ejection position, one end in the longitudinal direction of the liner is bent at a sharp angle via a separation pin, and then the one end is pinched between a nip roller of the separation unit and a platen roller. Thereby, when a continuous label is fed for printing by rotating the platen roller, the liner is fed while being pinched between the nip roller and the platen roller, and the printed labels are separated from the liner one by one and are ejected from the printer (see Laid open patent publication JP 2002-19219 A, for example).